Chapter Seventeen

Master Eujin finally returned sometime after she’d gone to bed. She knew this because the latch still faintly clicked when it was locked in place, even despite having been lubricated a dozen times in the past few months. Beyond that, she heard nothing, which was not surprising. Master Eujin never made a sound doing anything unless he deliberately meant to, or had no choice in the matter. He’d said something about replacing the lock at least as many times as it had been oiled, but had never gotten around to doing so. He nearly laughed Ven out of the room when she’d suggested the possibility of hiring someone else to do it. So it kept its little click.

Ven was surprised to find him already gone by the time she woke. His door was open, and more than a few bits of gear missing from the racks and cabinets that lined the walls of the room. On the small table in the kitchen, she found a small note written in a scrawled hand that she recognized immediately as his.

Meet you at the Brass Barrel after sundown. The day is yours to do with as you please. Enjoy it. It may be the last time you will be in the city for a while.

-E

She stared at the note, re-reading it several times to make sure she hadn’t misunderstood something. But no, sure enough, it said exactly what she thought it did. She dropped the paper back onto the tabletop before flopping into one of the chairs beside it. A free day. She hadn’t had a single one of those since the day she’d left Renning, though she’d secretly longed for one many times during one of her brutal training regimens. Now that she stared down a full sun cycle of nothing being required of her, she had absolutely no idea what to do with herself. What had she wanted to do, when she’d been a sweaty exhausted mess?

Food. That was what she wanted first. Real food, not the utilitarian rations the two of them usually tended to eat. Something salty and spicy and greasy and steaming, served to her by someone besides Master Eujin. And a giant sweetroll. No, two. Or three. Beyond that, however, she drew a blank. Oh well. She had plenty of time. She’d find some way to occupy herself.

She slid off the chair and went back to her room, sliding out of her nightclothes and dressing in a fresh pair of trousers and a clean black tunic. In the past few months, her feminine attributes were finally starting to become a bit more obvious, which irked her to no end. She wouldn’t have minded them if she was living a normal life. She’d probably even be happy to see them finally growing larger. But she wasn’t living that life, and they only tended to get in the way when she was training, so she had taken to binding them down as tightly as she could manage so that she could maintain a small profile and not have to deal with the discomfort sudden uncontrolled movements caused her.

After donning her belt, she pulled on her rubber-soled leather slippers. They had been expensive, possibly more than everything else but her sword combined. Rubber was hard to come by, the process to make it was difficult, and few knew how to work it into anything more useful than a blob. But the cost was more than worth it. The difference the soles made for keeping your balance on tight edges or in scrambling up the tiny imperfections in a wall was remarkable.

Once dressed, she donned the leather harness that strapped her sword to her back, the thigh sheath for the knife she’d taken from the Krins, the waist sheath for the dagger Master Eujin gave her, and nearly a dozen different belt pouches filled with tools, including smoke and flash powders, caltrops, a few poisons, and even a few medicines. Going out kitted up like this on her day off was probably overkill, but this wasn’t even her godsday best, and she was not going to risk being caught empty-handed. Stripping down to just her clothes in the safe house already felt exposed enough as it was.

Once she was finished, she picked up her mother’s hairpin from the bedside table and slid in into her belt before she left. It wasn’t useful for anything, really. She still kept her hair short for convenience sake, so she couldn’t even use it for its intended purpose. But something compelled her to bring it with her every time she left. It was an ever-present reminder of what she was training for, and that was enough, even if it wasn’t good for anything else.

The bolt latch fell into place with its faint little click, and with the slightest flourish of Thaumaturgy, she commanded the large internal bolts inside the door to snap into the doorframe. Master Eujin was nothing if not thorough about security. The safehouse had no windows, was built directly into the outer walls of the city with the same stone, and with the bolts in place, you’d need a battering ram or a particularly determined group of nutcases with magic and axes to have a hope of getting in. That of course didn’t even take into consideration the half dozen traps locking those bolts primed. Barging in without having magically disabled the internal locks would be a quick and easy way to a prolonged and excruciating death if you tripped any of them.

Ven followed the city wall until she reached Market Street, which, unsurprisingly, did not actually go to the central market of the city. Nearly none of the main roads reached their namesakes anymore, with the city having morphed and grown so dramatically since they were first named. The sole exception was the Gods Road that ran up to the top of the cliff ridge that overlooked the city and served as both the main hub for all of the various religions as well as the housing district for those too rich and mighty to stoop to living in close proximity to everyone else.

Most of the way down Market St towards the city center, there was an old pub called The Hair of the Dog. The place was old, possibly as old as the founding of the city itself, and while it no longer had a place of prominence, it was still known as a popular spot for local artists, philosophers, and musicians. It also served as a major hub for various adventuring types, as well as Shikari. She’d been to the place with Master Eujin many times while he sought work and planned for a job. Tragically, she almost never got to eat or drink when she was there, and if she did it was a hurried affair that she never really got to enjoy. There was also an open fighting pit that served as the other main draw, and never had there been a time she’d visited the place that there wasn’t a crowd jeering on fighters, many of whom were waiting to enter it themselves. Despite repeated pleading, Master Eujin always refused to let her fight, so she had been forced to only watch. But that, that was about to change.

She took a seat on the second floor near one of the lead-glass windows, the smells of a dozen different foods and spices hanging thickly in the air and making her mouth water. The place was astonishingly busy for this early in the day, especially considering it wasn’t Freeday or Godsday. Half a dozen races occupied the place, some working, some relaxing. The wait staff appeared to be mostly human women and feather-haired Kekusi in thick cloth masks that matched their serving aprons, although there was one particularly large hulk of a human man with skin the color of earth and a bald head polished to a light-reflecting shine. His name was Brucius, and when he wasn’t serving food or being a huge softie to her, he was usually force-feeding an unruly patron their own teeth. She generally him, if for no other reason than him being probably the only person in the city she’d interacted with who knew she was a girl without getting it wrong first.

He noticed her and walked over, signalling he’d handle her to the heavyset woman with the dark who’d been on her way to take her order.

“Why, Miss Venly, aren’t you a sight for sore eyes?” He said graciously. “I been tellin’ myself all mornin’ that today was gonna get better, and here you are.”

He grinned widely, showing a set of teeth so white there was absolutely no chance they hadn’t been alchemically enhanced. But they fit him, along with the unplaceable accent and dialect he spoke in.

“What can I get for you, cher?” He asked, licking the tip of the quill in his hand.

“Is the circle going to open soon?” She asked as she looked over the list of options in front of her.

Brucius gave her the look a parent might give a wayward child.

“Now, Miss Venly, I know you ain’t gonna climb in there. The fightin’ ring’s no place for a young ladyfolk such as yourself.”

Ven looked at him flatly.

“...you do know I’ve done it before, right?” She said. That was a lie, of course. She’d watched many fights in the open entry ring, but had never actually been allowed to participate. But he didn’t need to know that, and Master Eujin didn’t have to approve it. Today was her day, wasn’t it?

“I want you to know I thoroughly don’t approve. Does good Mister Vast know what you’re intending?” He asked.

“Master Eujin explicitly gave me the day off to spend it any way I please. I’m finally going on my first solo job, and I plan on enjoying myself before I leave.” She said.

“And you think that’s enjoyable. Fighting grown men for money?” He asked, resting his hands on his hips.

“I have a feeling you wouldn’t be saying this to me if I wasn’t a girl.” Ven said, finding herself growing irritated.

“But you are a girl, Miss Venly, and I feel obligated to make sure you’re treated as such.” He said, giving her another grin. “It’s my sworn duty to make sure young ladies like yourself don’t get hurt.

Ven sighed in frustration, and absent-mindedly pulled the knife from her thigh sheath and began flipping it between her fingers. Brucius looked at the blade dancing in her fingers, and his smile faded.

“Girl or not, I am quite capable of watching out for myself, and I do not appreciate being pandered to. Your concern is noted, but unwanted.” She said, giving the knife a gentle flick so that it landed point-first on the tip of her finger. She held it balanced there with a Command, and locked eyes with him. “Now answer the swiving question, Brucius.”

Some of the color drained from Brucius’s face, and he cleared his throat.

“Uh, yes, Miss Venly, it opens in a short while. There’s already quite a queue.”

“Good. I’ll have a full Transelian Breakfast, then, and a pair of stout pints. And while you’re back there, place my name on the list.” She said, deftly catching her knife as it dropped.

Brucius nodded.

“Yes, Miss Venly. Right away.” He said, turning to leave.

“Oh, and Brucius?” Ven called after him.

The man stopped and turned.

“The name’s Ven. Or Syrvena, if you insist on something more lady-like. Please use one of those two from now on.” Ven said.

Brucius pursed his lips.

“Yes, Miss Syrvena. It would be my pleasure.” He said, giving her a curt nod before heading off to the kitchen.

Ven snorted as she shoved the knife back into its sheath, and rubbed her eyes with her fingers. It was not even midday and she was already in a foul mood. If she was interesting in fighting before, now she was eager. There really was nothing like percussive therapy to take the edge off.